Please help us to prevent an accident in the DR

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Originally Posted by Kelly Jessop

This has been done for Eagle's Nest here in the US,with little to no benefit. If you want success you need to target the tourists/guests,because once the money dries up the activity stops. If shops get a public bad reputation,and their business stops,then positive steps are usually taken. Good luck on your efforts because this is alarming,and can have a negative impact on legitimate practices.

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Ok buy this is the DR and I think they might take the warning seriously, and I think it is wroth a try, it is at worst much better than not doing anything and just waiting for someone to die, which is just a matter of time.

FYI were these guys end up in the airdrome , it is insane it's like about 800-900 feet in.

I will email all this after officers of the various agencies a copy of the letter we gave out to the dive shops, if they would be willing to sign it, rewrite it if need be, but sign it and then we could go to the dive shops again and explain that this si really dangerous I think it would work.
i will also post a copy of this letter as soon as i get home for everyone to read and see if anything to change or add.

This is a major safety issue and i am really concerned, one must understand that there is almost zero untrained cave diving going on in the DR by people on they're own time, I have actually not heard of one case of that happening.
Alll the untrained cave diving going on here is done by PADI OW instructors taking unsuspecting clients way past the cavern zone, this is really tragic and a totally innocent tourist is going to get killed and it will be 100% the fault of an instructor who knew the risks involved!!!!

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Originally Posted by Slüdge

Open Water card = ten feet tall and bulletproof.

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yeah... but not waterproof....

Good idea from Kelly I'd say.
If you target the client, at the source, there is more chance to impact this dangerous activity. Maybe it could start by contacting the hotel's public relation people and see if you could do a 'talk/seminar' about how dangerous and crazy it is to go cave diving without training. Not only this would/could be appreciated from the hotel but talking to the potential clients having a greater impact.
Let's be honest, although I don't know since last time I was in DR was in the nineties but I recall of a not so rich country, struggling to keep afloat. Then came this huge wave of hotel development and mass tourism (all inclusive). So there must be some struggling dive shops, like there is in any cheap diving destination. It is going to be more difficult to convince them to drop this cash cow (cave dive) than to plant the right seed into the hotel managers and hotel clients. Clients who, we must keep in mind, are purely trusting their lives in the instructor because they don't know better. Often they do their 4 or 5 dives a year while in DR!
I don't tell you not to go and talk to the LDS but if I remember you have done it already without success. Maybe it's time to tackle this at the source. Hotels, tour operators, tourists themselves and why not, local authorities.
Good luck

If you need the signature of a now, not so scared anymore as I'm trained kind of diver, let me know, it will be my pleasure to help.

Cheers

You might also contact the various Scuba bulletin boards that cater to OW divers, example Scubaboard. Ask them to post something in the DR forum, and at the very list....you be diligent in posting there, the danger of diving in caves when not trained.

Maybe get a couple of cave divers to pose as OW divers and then "get lost" during the dive. Surface a bit later and tell the instructor to remember the sinking feeling that they had when they realized they might have lost some divers. Even better, have three in on it so the "friend" on the surface can go nice and hysterical on the instructor.

hehehe we could hide some tanks in the cave, or surface at the airdome, that would be fun... just store a couple of beers at the airdome and wait there for 5-6hs just to scare the s... out of them, that sounds like fun!!! only 1 real tourist and 3 fake (us)

I am not familiar with the DR cave sites and landowner relationships. I am also sure that you work very hard to maintain good communications with landowners. We have found that educating and familiarizing landowners (with a safety and conservation message) appears to be the most successful avenue in combating this worrisome and senseless activity. Dive facilities and hotels in the Caribbean don't own cave entrance sites very often. They are in business to make money.

The landowner does and can decide who can have access to the property. He also has to live with the results of an accident; who gave the initial permission to enter the property? If your caves entrances are on private property, then attempt to get the landowners on the ball. Otherwise, you may be able to forge an MOU (as a start) with the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of the Interior. It's unfortunate that it may take a fatality or two for your message to pass through a lot of solid bone. But once educated, boneheads can be very helpful partners.

Jim

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Originally Posted by chrispete

Maybe get a couple of cave divers to pose as OW divers and then "get lost" during the dive. Surface a bit later and tell the instructor to remember the sinking feeling that they had when they realized they might have lost some divers. Even better, have three in on it so the "friend" on the surface can go nice and hysterical on the instructor.

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That is actually not a bad idea, but they all know us though so it would not work.
The dive shops in question are far from struggling little shops they a full on five star PADi facilities that own big dive boats and cater to the big Dominicus hotels and resorts.

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Originally Posted by Jim Coke

I am not familiar with the DR cave sites and landowner relationships. I am also sure that you work very hard to maintain good communications with landowners. We have found that educating and familiarizing landowners (with a safety and conservation message) appears to be the most successful avenue in combating this worrisome and senseless activity. Dive facilities and hotels in the Caribbean don't own cave entrance sites very often. They are in business to make money.

The landowner does and can decide who can have access to the property. He also has to live with the results of an accident; who gave the initial permission to enter the property? If your caves entrances are on private property, then attempt to get the landowners on the ball. Otherwise, you may be able to forge an MOU (as a start) with the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of the Interior. It's unfortunate that it may take a fatality or two for your message to pass through a lot of solid bone. But once educated, boneheads can be very helpful partners.

Jim

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Almost all the caves he's are in the niddle of nowhere and no OW divers will ever go, however in Bayahibe the land is owned by the bayahibe la romana hotel association and managed by the media ambiante, both of which really don't seem to care and are so far doing absolutely nothing to help prevent any of this stuff.
That is why we aim to educate the dive shops and why we seeks to write a letter that would be signed by all the training agencies to add weight to the warning, as it has been totally ignored so far.
The dive shops think we are a small bunch of anoying cave divers, but if we had backup, so to speak, I think they would listen and take notice.

It could probably be worked out for a couple thousand US dollars to have two people go down there for a few days and pose in a resort and do a few dives with the crew. On the first day or two, we could do some setup dives with you to get familiar with the cave and stage a hide-out. Then go out on the boat the third day (just to set the stage) and do a cave dive the fourth day and get "lost" for 4-5 hours. Just bring the underwater iPod to keep things entertaining and it'd be a success.

The only thing we'd need to find out beforehand would be any legal issues if the authorities were called by the dive shop. I'd hate to be stuck there for what is essentially a prank.

Cheers,
Jeff